Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq, said the Federal government has begun cash transfer to the poorest households in the country to suppress the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The minister disclosed this at a press conference in Abuja.
Though the amount being transferred was not disclosed but the Minister said her ministry has commenced advance payment of conditional cash transfer to the poorest households in the country.
She said,
“In Mr. President’s speech, paragraph 54, he directed that the conditional cash transfer should be given in advance of two months. This we have also done. We have directed immediate cash transfer to the poorest and most vulnerable households in the country.
“Because of this COVID-19, the vulnerable groups have to expanded, because we are aware that there are people who live on daily wage, so we are also going to look at those groups of people to see how we can get this food relief intervention to them in this period.”
It would be recalled that the President authorized a total lockdown in Abuja, Lagos and Ogun State as part of plans to curtail the further spread of the novel virus.